East Penn chief wants illegally dumped debris with asbestos gone

East Penn School District's superintendent says asbestos-containing construction debris illegally dumped on school property near Wescosville Elementary School will be removed.

East Penn School District's superintendent says asbestos-containing construction debris illegally dumped on school property near Wescosville Elementary School will be removed. (PATRICK LESTER/THE MORNING CALL)

Asbestos-containing construction debris illegally dumped on school property near Wescosville Elementary School, then buried by school district employees, will be removed.

East Penn Superintendent Michael Schilder said the debris was dumped in the woods behind the school by an unknown party sometime over the summer of 2013.

After it was discovered, a decision was made to bury the debris, which is enough to fill six 15-yard containers, in a clay-lined hole on school property.

Schilder called the decision a poor one.

"I can say that those who made the decision are no longer employed by the district," the new superintendent said at Monday night's school board meeting.

Subsequent testing confirmed that the residential siding found in the debris contained asbestos, he said.

The process, to be performed by A.L.M Abatement Services, LLC, of Coopersburg, involves removing the material, treating it with water and transporting it to a hazardous waste landfill.

While A.L.M. Abatement told the district the buried debris posed no threat to humans or to groundwater, Schilder wants it removed nonetheless.

School Director Lynn Donches objected to the open-endedness of the contract and also to the removal of the debris before a criminal investigation ensued and the perpetrator potentially held accountable. She suggested removing the asbestos before such an investigation would essentially be tampering with evidence.

"Since it has to do with an environmental hazard … I'm concerned there could be legal ramifications to the district," she said.

Schilder confirmed that the police had not been notified and that the school district's top priority was to remove the material. "We chose the best of three quotes, financially," he said. "You want that open-ended piece because you want them to do it right."

The initial cost to East Penn School is $18,500. The contract states that any volume in excess of six 15-yard containers of asbestos waste material will be billed at a rate of $1,600 yards per container and that any fill material brought into the site in excess of six tri-axle loads would be billed at a rate of $320 per tri-axle.

Schilder, who stepped in as superintendent this summer, said he was made aware of the situation less than a month ago. School board member Ziad Munson likened waiting for an investigation to remove the hazardous material to not putting out a building engulfed inflames until it could be determined who discarded the lit cigarette.

The school board voted 8-1 to contract A.L.M. to remove and dispose the material, with Donches casting the dissenting vote.